NFL Legend Steve Young's Firm Helps Take Metaverse-Related Company Movella Public

Movella, a metaverse-related firm that makes sensors and develops software, will become a publicly traded company on Nasdaq through a combination with Pathfinder Acquisition Corp. (PFDR), according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

Pathfinder is a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, formed by affiliates of investment firm Industry Ventures and HGGC, a private-equity firm that counts former National Football League legend Steve Young as its co-founder, chairman and one of its partners.

The combined entity will be named Movella Holdings Inc. and will have a pro forma enterprise value of about $537 million. Movella will use the proceeds from the transaction to continue to grow.

Movella offers advanced sensors, software and analytics related to movement tracking for customers in entertainment, health, sports, automation and mobility. Customers include video-game publisher Electronic Arts (EA), NBC Universal and Siemens.

“Movella is uniquely positioned to provide critical enabling technology for the metaverse, next-generation gaming and other high-growth emerging end markets and applications in addition to the substantial growth it’s already achieved in its existing markets,” Pathfinder CEO David Chung said in the filing.

While Movella’s technology is used in a broad range of industries, the company has increased its focus on potential Web3 applications. In May, Movella hosted its Motion Capture Content Creators Conference with a focus on the metaverse.

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